dedicated to the fairer sex

Hi, my name is Ben. Welcome to my blog! I’d like to give a quick word of thanks to MJ Scott and her husband Elliot for creating the awesome banner that heads my blog, they are two awesome people 🙂

If you’d like to get in touch, you can reach me on Twitter (@ben_writing) or email me at ben.writing67 AT gmail DOT com. Or just comment here!

“My Ideal Woman” isn’t a checklist or goal; it’s a celebration of all the things I love about women, expressions of my enthusiasm and delight of the female mind and body. Very few are the women I see in person, in passing, in print or on screen who don’t have something to wonder, cherish, ogle or fantasize about. This blog is dedicated to expressing my appreciation of the fairer sex. I talk more about the goals for my blog here.

A bit more about me…

I’m a writer, a dad, a hopeless romantic, an eternal optimist and a bleeding heart liberal. I look for the best in people and try to win over cynics.

I love movies, with or without company. In fact going alone is a guilty pleasure as I subsume myself in the celluloid reality, a spirit observer watching through the camera lens. I’m thrilled when a film makes me forget myself, and that’s a power I hope to harness myself one day.

I love how having children redefines your universe, how it sets your place in the timestream of humanity. I marvel seeing bits of me manifest in them, alongside their own surprising uniqueness. Watching them experience things for the very first time is truly candy for the soul. Children are our love letters to the future.

I love the smokey taste of bourbon swirling in my mouth, the alchohol bite softened by ginger ale. I love the aromas of vanilla and jasmine, evoking warm memories of scented baths and skin pressed to skin. I love fresh ground pepper and garlic. I love the Byrdsian rolling guitars and blurred vocals of old REM songs. I love the soft kiss of a woman’s lips and the gentle tongueplay that sends electric shocks down my spine. I love searing kisses that make my scalp tingle and my hair stand on end. I love to feel the warm, soft, round curves of a woman’s body beneath my hands. I love the thrill of working with your partner to win a hard-fought game of Spades. I love when someone is moved by something I wrote enough to tell me about it. I love listening to bands like Stone Roses and Mazzy Star while deeply buzzing. I love the warm comfort of a heated house when you come in out of wet, freezing weather. I love it when I put on my jacket for the first time of the season and find a ten dollar bill in the pocket. I love the stylized dialog of the Cohen Brother’s Miller’s Crossing. I always got goofy grins when I saw someone transformed on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” I love toffee and mint candy. I love to ponder what Bill Murray said to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation.

Two books that dramatically changed the way I viewed my world were Generations : The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069 by Neil Howe & William Strauss, and A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present by Howard Zinn. I dig the quiet quirkiness of the film The Accidental Tourist. I’m still in awe by Mary Doria Russell’s writing prowess in her first novel The Sparrow and her subsequent books. I find Making Fiends on Nicktoons delightfully subversive and enjoy watching it with my kids. I tend to side with women when they bitch about men. I used to mosh to Fishbone and Red Hot Chili Peppers in collegetown dives. I dream about one day owning a fabulous row house in the Fan District of Richmond, with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and a round room. Old lovers frequently cross my mind and I hope they’re doing well, wonderful women all of them.

My Motto?
LOVE DEEPLY
BE KIND
DO GOOD

Disclaimer:

These are the thoughts and opinions of myself, unless otherwise specified. Like something you read? Don’t steal it. Give credit where credit is due and bask in the good Karma you’ve earned. If you think I’d be perfect for any writing projects you may have, please contact me directly at ben_writing67@gmail.com with details.

All reviews are unsolicited and done solely at my discretion without freebies or compensation unless otherwise noted in the individual post. I am open to participating in product or service reviews, but reserve the right to give my unabashed opinion in the review at my discretion.

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28 Responses

Love your blog 🙂 Just started digging in. Let me know if you would like to write a guest post for Simply Solo… I feature them every Tuesday. I’d love to have you – I could really use the male perspective! Email me at simplysoloblog@gmail.com if you would be interested 🙂

Thanks, Catherine– glad you like it! Just started a couple months ago and wasn’t sure whether the concept would “work” or not (or whether anyone would care to read it) but I’ve enjoyed writing it and it seems to have gotten some traction on hits.

Your blog is great, I really love it and I’d be honored to do a guest post! I’ll drop you an email.

I am glad I found this website. I’ve been trying to get my bearings on it all. Women can bring out the best and worst in men, Is it thus needy to relate the love of a woman with the empowerment to get at your best and escape a life more ordinary?

I don’t think it’s needy at all unless a woman’s love is the only thing that can keep you motivated and happy. But there’s no doubt life’s a bit sweeter with a special someone in your life who loves you, who’s there to make the best days better and the worst days tolerable. I don’t predicate my happiness on finding that woman, but I sure hope I do 🙂

“woman’s love” isn’t it more “love of a special woman” doesn’t that uplift come when you find a woman you really really want to put out for -perhaps a really hard catch and a really hard hold on to. I agree you need to be fundamentally emotionally secure and happy as a person to avoid treating women as your emotional pit prop.

Just thought I’d say hey. I’ve been reading your EDH pieces over at SCG for a while now and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of them. I’m a proud co owner of a fledgling gaming store in the UK and your writing really spurred me on in our first few months to get building and pass the Commander bug on to the guys at the store (an amazing success I might add). I’m in the process of reinterpreting your Doran deck right now as it happens ;-D

Anyway, it’s a strange one really. As I said, I was really inspired by your writing about Magic but while I was reading just now I happened to find the link to this blog buried in a post, which in turn led me to the thing I’m actually writing to you about (I still can’t quite get over that it isn’t actually MtG).

Scanning through your about me section I came across something that both surprised me and made me grin ear to ear in equal measure. There’s another guy out there that ponders what Bill Murrey said to Scarlett Johanssen at the end of Lost In Translation! And All this time here I was, thinking I was a lone voice in the wilderness over here. That’s pretty much it really but I had to take the opportunity just to share that.

I’ve seen the film so many times when I’ve felt a little bit lost myself and it’s nearly always the first piece of the bread crumb that leads me back to whatever path I should be following at the time. I can probably quote it word for word in fact but Bill’s whispered parting words have always amused, puzzled and frustratedly me in equal measure. Care to share your musings?

Anyway, I hope this post finds you well. Good luck with your writing. You clearly have the passion to keep driving ever onwards.

Thanks, John! I think it’s kinda cool that Sophia Coppola apparently at the last minute cut the sound on that scene– apparently the words he said were in the script but she thought it better to just make it a mystery. My best hunch is that he said something like “don’t sell yourself short.” Second guess is “you’re gonna regret not kissing me for the rest of your life” 😉